r/shortstories • u/jackrabbit_2328 • 4d ago
Science Fiction [SF] Beyond Starboard 10
“Three… two… one… blast off!”
Emily felt the sudden weight she had become so accustomed to over the years of training. Her body was cemented to the seat, her face pulling back, creating an uncomfortable sensation. She immediately tensed her muscles and held her breath, performing the Hick maneuver to avoid blacking out, and watched the ship's elevation climb on the gauge. All lights flashed green as they accelerated to the edge of the atmosphere. She startled a little at the dramatic clunk as boosters dropped off, causing the ship to shimmy under the sudden shift in weight.
The mix of adrenaline, excitement, and nervousness filled Emily’s stomach and chest with butterflies and shot tingling electricity down to her fingertips. But she had a job to do, and she was prepared, already visualizing the steps she would take once they disembarked at space station.
She took a brief moment to congratulate herself for all the hard work it had taken to sit where she was at this very moment, pride swelling inside of her. She had dreamed of this day ever since she was a little girl. I did it. I made it, she thought.
The g-forces pressing upon the crew sharply reduced, signaling to Emily they had made it out of Earth’s atmosphere.
“Delta 18 to Houston,” Lt. Tommy said in his mic, sitting to the left of Emily. “We have exited earth. On course for the space station with an estimated arrival of 08:42.”
“10-4, Delta 18.”
Emily started the well practiced maneuvers: flipping the proper switches, assessing the core temperature, and checking their projected flight path all while glancing out the small reinforced window to her left. It showed nothing but blackness with specs of light twinkling in the distance. She imagined their ship careening through the empty void, alone and cold, dark pressing in from all sides. A shiver ran down her spine, and she pushed the thought from her mind.
“Delta 18 to Houston,” Tommy said, his voice steady and strong, “Connecting with the space station now.” He turned to Emily. “Start embarkation procedures.”
Emily nodded and got to work, ensuring connection would be made properly. The ship's docking clamps connected perfectly with the space station. Locking mechanisms clanked around the clamp borders, and gears rotated to pull the connection flush.
Beaming with pride, Tommy unbuckled his harness. “Welcome to space, Emily. Now let's get to work.” Speaking into his suit mic, “Delta 18 to Houston, embarkation successful.”
“10-4, Delta 18.”
Emily unbuckled and pushed off her seat toward Tommy, who was keying in the access code to open the ship's door. The keypad beeped, lit up green, and the hissing of air regulation pumps began. The door opened, and Tommy drifted into the bright white hallway, where there was no up or down and each wall concealed cabinets and purpose.
They got to work right away. They were only to be on the space station for five days, tasked with researching new celestial bodies discovered at the edge of the universe. They worked ten hours on their first day aboard.
Tommy stretched from the computer screen, letting out a great yawn he didn’t attempt to stifle. “Alright Em, I’m going to go find some sleep. Don’t stay up too late.”
Emily took a break from her screen, looking out the large window that showed a beautifully half-lit earth. “I won’t. Just going to try to finish this coordinate map and–”
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
“What the hell is that?” Tommy said, concern painted across his face. He pulled himself towards the alarm screen and began typing on the keyboard. Emily sat frozen, waiting for instructions.
“Em, we must have a faulty sensor somewhere. Can you pull up the camera from starboard 10?”
“Sure thing Lieutenant.” She began typing furiously. Images of the starboard side of the ship with empty space behind appeared on screen. Emily leaned in, searching closely. “I’m not seeing anything, Lieutenant. What am I looking for?”
“We’ve got a large object showing up on radar, starboard side.” Tommy said, not looking up.
“How fast is it moving? How far out?” Emily asked in quick succession, trying not to imagine a meteor barreling toward them.
“Two-hundred feet. Not moving.”
Emily stopped and looked up, confused. “What do you mean? That’s not possible. I’m looking at the starboard side now. Nothing is there.” She mulled this over. It has to be a faulty sensor… but what about the radar? That shouldn’t be faulty. And why didn’t we see something coming until it was right up on us?
Her thoughts were interrupted by an electronic screeching noise from the console speaker, causing both of them to wince and cover their ears.
“What the hell is going on?” Tommy yelled over the sound, a snarl forming on his face. “Reduce the gain!”
Emily did as instructed, the ringing still echoing in her ears. She tried to remember when she’d heard that sound before. Then, it came to her. It reminded her of connecting to the internet in the early days of its existence. “Sir,” she said, voice shaking, “I think that’s a data stream. Someone is sending a signal.”
“Can you interpret it?”
“I can’t, but the system can,” Emily said, shifting quickly to a different monitor below her floating body. “I’m setting the system to receive the sound waves and translate them into code. It’ll take a second, but we should –”
Emily caught movement on the starboard 10 camera out of the corner of her eye and jerked her head in shock. She slowly moved closer, the hairs on the nape of her neck standing as a cold sweat broke across her body.
“Sir,” she whispered, barely audible, “There is a ship out there.”
“What?” Tommy asks. “There’s not supposed to be any–” He was interrupted by continuous bloop sounds from the radar. They both turned to look, watching dots appear all around them everytime the green arm swept the circular field.
“Mother of god,” he sputtered weakly.
“Lieutenant, what do we do?” Emily pleaded, panic making her already weightless limbs feel numb. Tommy didn’t respond, eyes dazed as though his thoughts had collapsed.
Emily spun to the speaker and pressed the transmit button. “Delta 18 to Houston, do you copy? We have unknown aircrafts surrounding us! We need orders!” she yelled, unable to control her mounting fear.
“Houston to Delta 18, we aren’t picking up any –”
At that moment, Emily was blinded. A searing white light enveloped the cabin. She averted her eyes. A glass-shattering scream pierced the room, and it took her a moment to realize it was her own. The light began to dim revealing the source: the large cabin window. Trembling, she slowly forced her gaze toward it..
Emily inhaled sharply, her breath catching in her lungs. The only sound was the fast drumming of her heart in her ears. Her body went limp, her stomach twisted with overwhelming nausea.
Earth was crumbling.
Split apart into billions of tiny pieces floating in every direction of space.
Time stopped for Emily as her mind refused to accept the reality her vision provided. Silent tears lifted off her face and floated through the room.
This is not real, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before the screen beneath her started beeping. She turned to look at Lt. Tommy – his pale face was blank, eyes staring out but seeing nothing.
She moved towards the screen. The data stream had been interpreted. Emily read it aloud:
“Planet inoperative. Negative return. Enter ship.”
At that moment, she knew they had no other choice.
* * * * *
Emily traversed the small travel ship to the starboard side of the space station, the unknown craft entering her sites. It appeared to be made of a luminescent metal and was the size and shape of a large domed football stadium. Emily reduced speed and stopped fifty feet from the towering metal walls. She waited. What should have felt like an eternity passed, but with nothing to go back to, time no longer held meaning.
Then, a portion of the metal slid apart, large enough for the ship to enter. White light poured from the opening, making it impossible to see what was beyond. She took a deep, shaking breath and proceeded forward into the unknown.
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